On September 13th, Mary Ann and I participated in the 2009 Komen New York City Race for the Cure to help raise money for Breast Cancer. It was a 5k run/walk in Central Park (and we have to admit we decided to walk it with only 30 minutes of sleep the night before). Mary Ann was the team captain, making it our first time racing as “SkyAide” in an event. I was used to running 3 miles at the gym and assumed we would be done in no time. This wasn’t the case when you’re going on next to no sleep and among a huge crowd of people.

Though it took a little less than 3 hours to finish, it was definitely an awesome day. Walking through Central Park was beautiful and we ended at my favorite spot (near the lake and big fountain, heading toward “the mall”). We were greeted by thousands of people handing us water and snacks. Mott’s made some cool “Pink to the Core” bags to give away (pictured below). As a design geek I loved the typography.

The most moving part of the walk was reading the cards on people’s backs as they walked by. Some people were walking for people they knew that have cancer and others were walking in memory of ones they lost. It was really sad to see husbands walking in memory of their wives, women walking in memory of their sisters, and especially children walking in memory of their mothers. Walking among a huge sea of people that were all connected to cancer in some way makes you realize how cancer is a part of almost everyone’s life.

Altogether, team SkyAide raised $173 out of our $250 goal. We would like to thank those of you that made donations and those that participated in the run/walk. Thanks for the support!

- Shannon